New Orders For Military Training Flights

February 14, 1997|The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - — New orders are being issued for military training flights in two large areas off the Atlantic Coast where two civilian pilots complained about the actions of F-16 fighter pilots last week, a New Jersey senator said on Thursday.

Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, a Democrat, said he had been told by the Navy and Air Force that fighter pilots will be required to keep a distance of 5 miles horizontally and 5,000 feet vertically, instead of the current 1,000 feet, from any civilian airliner.

No civilian aircraft interceptions will be allowed without permission from air traffic controllers.

In addition, fighter pilots will be told not to make moves that might trigger an airliner's electronic collision-avoidance system. On Feb. 5, an F-16 pilot operating off the New Jersey coast triggered an alert in a Nations Air Express Boeing 727 by pulling in behind the plane as it descended toward New York.

Lautenberg said the new procedures apply only to the busy Warning Areas 107 and 108 off the coast from New Jersey south, but further reviews are under way. No military training flights will be allowed in those areas until Wednesday.

Military air traffic controllers also will be cautioned to use proper civilian air traffic control terminology in conversations in the zones. A transcript of radio conversations during the Feb. 5 incident showed general confusion among military and civilian controllers and the F-16 pilots.